A New York-based construction safety company and 25 people were indicted on February 28 for allegedly operating a fake safety training school. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office says. The firm Valor Security & Investigations is also linked to “endangering the life” of Ivan Frias, who died from 15th floor of a New York City construction site in 2022.
Valor allegedly issued certificates and security cards to approximately 20,000 students and became the third largest security certificate provider in New York City between December 2019 and April 2023, the DA’s office said in a communicated
“We allege that Valor Security & Investigations ran a fraudulent security training school, falsely claiming that construction workers received the necessary training to work on the job sites,” says Bragg. “We also allege that the death of one recipient, Ivan Frias, may have been prevented if not for the defendants’ reckless imprudence in training him.”
According to reports, Frias, 36, fell from the scaffolding of a residential building undergoing facade repair in 2022.
Valor’s charges follow an earlier indictment of the owners of two Brooklyn businesses for making and selling fake OSHA and building department safety cards.
Valor allegedly submitted documents certifying that Frias had completed 10 hours of security training, including eight hours of security protection, but never provided him with any training, the DA says.
Valor also filed documents with the Department of Buildings claiming it provided safety training to hundreds of students while video surveillance revealed empty classrooms, the DA added. The company also presented a security certificate for students with the abbreviation “LNU” which means “surname unknown”.
Valor and its founder, Alexander Shaporov, could not be reached for comment.
Department of Building Commission Jimmy Oddo says building construction-related fatalities fell to a nine-year low last year due to construction safety training requirements for workers in bigger jobs. “Construction safety training is helping to save lives, but the actions of these advocates could have undermined that progress in the interest of making a quick profit,” Oddo said in the DA’s statement.
Allegedly, “the defendants issued cards for a fee certifying the required 40 hours of safety training for individuals working on construction sites without providing training,” the statement said. In addition, 19 people, including a New York Housing Authority foreman and two master plumbers, were charged with “acting as brokers connecting individuals seeking certification” with Valor.
Nineteen of these “intermediaries,” included two licensed master plumbers from Flow Right Plumbing & Heating Corp. and KCM Plumbing & Heating Co., four employees of DeMar Plumbing Corp., a director of Alpha Construction Services, and an employee of the New York Housing Authority. charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a false instrument in the second degree and offering a false instrument for presentation in the first degree, the release said.
Valor, President Alexander Shaporov, 40; Training director Richard Marini, 70; Instructor Eliot Sosinov, 44; CEO Nigina Zokirova, 24; Director of Compliance Marina Balzer, 28 years; and Director of Business Development, Rimma Chakalyan, 24; are accused in the indictment of corporate corruption, including 261 acts pattern related to their scheme over years.
At least four Valor employees, including Zokirova, Balzer, Chakhalan and Shaporov, “allegedly submitted fraudulent resumes to OSHA to obtain their teaching credentials in order to teach and issue safety certificates,” the statement said. “Two of these trainers claimed that they allegedly gained some of the necessary experience in high-rise construction inspection when they were only 16 or 17 years old.”
Additionally, financial records reveal that nearly $1 million in payments were deposited into Shaporov’s personal account. These payments were mostly small amounts “consistent with the cost of security courses” that allegedly allowed him to buy luxury items for his personal use.
They are also charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a false instrument in the second degree and offering a false instrument for presentation in the first degree.
In March 2021, a New York City law requiring construction workers on major jobsites to complete 40 hours of safety training went into effect, and Valor was among the many companies approved by the Department of Buildings to offer safety courses and certification for workers.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the New York Department of Investigation and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
